The Solitary Reaper by William Wordsworth
Behold her, single in the field, Yon solitary Highland Lass! Reaping and singing by herself; Stop here, or gently pass! Alone she cuts and binds the grain, And sings a melancholy strain; O listen! for the Vale profound Is […]
The Simplon Pass by William Wordsworth
. -Brook and road Were fellow-travellers in this gloomy Pass, And with them did we journey several hours At a slow step. The immeasurable height Of woods decaying, never to be decayed, The stationary blasts of waterfalls, And in the narrow rent, at every turn, Winds thwarting winds bewildered and forlorn, The torrents shooting from […]
The Shepherd, Looking Eastward, Softly Said by William Wordsworth
The Shepherd, looking eastward, softly said “Bright is thy veil, O Moon, as thou art bright!” Forthwith, that little cloud, in ether spread And penetrated all with tender light, She cast away, and showed her fulgent head Uncovered; dazzling the Beholder’s sight As if to vindicate her beauty’s right Her beauty thoughtlessly disparaged. Meanwhile that […]
The Seven Sisters by William Wordsworth
Or, The Solitude Of Binnorie SEVEN Daughter had Lord Archibald, All children of one mother: You could not say in one short day What love they bore each other. A garland, of seven lilies, wrought! Seven sisters that together dwell; But he, bold Knight as ever fought, Their Father, took of them no thought, He […]
The Sailor’s Mother by William Wordsworth
. ONE morning (raw it was and wet– A foggy day in winter time) A Woman on the road I met, Not old, though something past her prime: Majestic in her person, tall and straight; And like a Roman matron’s was her mien and gait. The ancient spirit is not dead; Old times, thought I, […]
The Reverie of Poor Susan by William Wordsworth
At the corner of Wood Street, when daylight appears, Hangs a Thrush that sings loud, it has sung for three years: Poor Susan has passed by the spot, and has heard In the silence of morning the song of the Bird. ‘Tis a note of enchantment; what ails her? She sees A mountain ascending, a […]
The Redbreast Chasing The Butterfly by William Wordsworth
ART thou the bird whom Man loves best, The pious bird with the scarlet breast, Our little English Robin; The bird that comes about our doors When Autumn-winds are sobbing? Art thou the Peter of Norway Boors? Their Thomas in Finland, And Russia far inland? The bird, that by some name or other All men […]
The Primrose of the Rock by William Wordsworth
A Rock there is whose homely front The passing traveller slights; Yet there the glow-worms hang their lamps, Like stars, at various heights; And one coy Primrose to that Rock The vernal breeze invites. What hideous warfare hath been waged, What kingdoms overthrown, Since first I spied that Primrose-tuft And marked it for my own; […]
The Power of Armies is a Visible Thing by William Wordsworth
The power of Armies is a visible thing, Formal and circumscribed in time and space; But who the limits of that power shall trace Which a brave People into light can bring Or hide, at will,-for freedom combating By just revenge inflamed? No foot may chase, No eye can follow, to a fatal place That […]
The Pet-Lamb by William Wordsworth
A PASTORAL THE dew was falling fast, the stars began to blink; I heard a voice; it said, “Drink, pretty creature, drink!” And, looking o’er the hedge, before me I espied A snow-white mountain-lamb with a Maiden at its side. Nor sheep nor kine were near; the lamb was all alone, And by a slender […]
The Passing of the Elder Bards by William Wordsworth
THE MIGHTY Minstrel breathes no longer, Mid mouldering ruins low he lies; And death upon the braes of Yarrow Has closed the Shepherd-poet’s eyes: Nor has the rolling year twice measured, From sign to sign, its steadfast course, Since every mortal power of Coleridge Was frozen at its marvellous source; The ‘rapt One, of the […]
The Old Cumberland Beggar by William Wordsworth
. I saw an aged Beggar in my walk; And he was seated, by the highway side, On a low structure of rude masonry Built at the foot of a huge hill, that they Who lead their horses down the steep rough road May thence remount at ease. The aged Man Had placed his staff […]
The Oak Of Guernica Supposed Address To The Same by William Wordsworth
OAK of Guernica! Tree of holier power Than that which in Dodona did enshrine (So faith too fondly deemed) a voice divine Heard from the depths of its aerial bower– How canst thou flourish at this blighting hour? What hope, what joy can sunshine bring to thee, Or the soft breezes from the Atlantic sea, […]
The King Of Sweden by William Wordsworth
THE Voice of song from distant lands shall call To that great King; shall hail the crowned Youth Who, taking counsel of unbending Truth, By one example hath set forth to all How they with dignity may stand; or fall, If fall they must. Now, whither doth it tend? And what to him and his […]
The Idle Shepherd Boys by William Wordsworth
The valley rings with mirth and joy; Among the hills the echoes play A never never ending song, To welcome in the May. The magpie chatters with delight; The mountain raven’s youngling brood Have left the mother and the nest; And they go rambling east and west In search of their own food; Or through […]
The Horn Of Egremont Castle by William Wordsworth
ERE the Brothers through the gateway Issued forth with old and young, To the Horn Sir Eustace pointed Which for ages there had hung. Horn it was which none could sound, No one upon living ground, Save He who came as rightful Heir To Egremont’s Domains and Castle fair. Heirs from times of earliest record […]
The Highland Broach by William Wordsworth
If to Tradition faith be due, And echoes from old verse speak true, Ere the meek Saint, Columba, bore Glad tidings to Iona’s shore, No common light of nature blessed The mountain region of the west, A land where gentle manners ruled O’er men in dauntless virtues schooled, That raised, for centuries, a bar Impervious […]
The Happy Warrior by William Wordsworth
‘Tis, finally, the man, who, lifted high, Conspicuous object in a nation’s eye, Or left unthought of in obscurity, Who, with a toward or untoward lot, Prosperous or adverse, to his wish or not,– Plays, in the many games of life, that one Where what he most doth value must be won; Whom neither shape […]
The Green Linnet by William Wordsworth
BENEATH these fruit-tree boughs that shed Their snow-white blossoms on my head, With brightest sunshine round me spread Of spring’s unclouded weather, In this sequestered nook how sweet To sit upon my orchard-seat! And birds and flowers once more to greet, My last year’s friends together. One have I marked, the happiest guest In all […]
The Germans On The Heighs Of Hochheim by William Wordsworth
ABRUPTLY paused the strife;–the field throughout Resting upon his arms each warrior stood, Checked in the very act and deed of blood, With breath suspended, like a listening scout. O Silence! thou wert mother of a shout That through the texture of yon azure dome Cleaves its glad way, a cry of harvest home Uttered […]
The French Revolution as it appeared to Enthusiasts by William Wordsworth
. Oh! pleasant exercise of hope and joy! For mighty were the auxiliars which then stood Upon our side, we who were strong in love! Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, But to be young was very heaven!-Oh! times, In which the meagre, stale, forbidding ways Of custom, law, and statute, took […]
The French Army In Russia, 1812-13 by William Wordsworth
HUMANITY, delighting to behold A fond reflection of her own decay, Hath painted Winter like a traveller old, Propped on a staff, and, through the sullen day, In hooded mantle, limping o’er the plain, As though his weakness were disturbed by pain: Or, if a juster fancy should allow An undisputed symbol of command, The […]
The French And the Spanish Guerillas by William Wordsworth
HUNGER, and sultry heat, and nipping blast From bleak hill-top, and length of march by night Through heavy swamp, or over snow-clad height– These hardships ill-sustained, these dangers past, The roving Spanish Bands are reached at last, Charged, and dispersed like foam: but as a flight Of scattered quails by signs do reunite, So these,–and, […]
The Fountain by William Wordsworth
A Conversation We talked with open heart, and tongue Affectionate and true, A pair of friends, though I was young, And Matthew seventy-two. We lay beneath a spreading oak, Beside a mossy seat; And from the turf a fountain broke And gurgled at our feet. `Now, Matthew!’ said I, `let us match This water’s pleasant […]
The Forsaken by William Wordsworth
The peace which others seek they find; The heaviest storms not longest last; Heaven grants even to the guiltiest mind An amnesty for what is past; When will my sentence be reversed? I only pray to know the worst; And wish as if my heart would burst. O weary struggle! silent year Tell seemingly no […]
The Force Of Prayer, Or, The Founding Of Bolton, A Tradition by William Wordsworth
“What is good for a bootless bene?” With these dark words begins my Tale; And their meaning is, whence can comfort spring When Prayer is of no avail? “What is good for a bootless bene?” The Falconer to the Lady said; And she made answer “ENDLESS SORROW!” For she knew that her Son was dead. […]
The Fairest, Brightest, Hues Of Ether Fade by William Wordsworth
The fairest, brightest, hues of ether fade; The sweetest notes must terminate and die; O Friend! thy flute has breathed a harmony Softly resounded through this rocky glade; Such strains of rapture as the Genius played In his still haunt on Bagdad’s summit high; He who stood visible to Mirza’s eye, Never before to human […]
The Eagle and the Dove by William Wordsworth
SHADE of Caractacus, if spirits love The cause they fought for in their earthly home To see the Eagle ruffled by the Dove May soothe thy memory of the chains of Rome. These children claim thee for their sire; the breath Of thy renown, from Cambrian mountains, fans A flame within them that despises death […]
The Danish Boy by William Wordsworth
I BETWEEN two sister moorland rills There is a spot that seems to lie Sacred to flowerets of the hills, And sacred to the sky. And in this smooth and open dell There is a tempest-stricken tree; A corner-stone by lightning cut, The last stone of a lonely hut; And in this dell you see […]
The Cottager To Her Infant by William Wordsworth
THE days are cold, the nights are long, The north-wind sings a doleful song; Then hush again upon my breast; All merry things are now at rest, Save thee, my pretty Love! The kitten sleeps upon the hearth, The crickets long have ceased their mirth; There’s nothing stirring in the house Save one ‘wee’, hungry, […]
The Complaint Of A Forsaken Indian Woman by William Wordsworth
I Before I see another day, Oh let my body die away! In sleep I heard the northern gleams; The stars, they were among my dreams; In rustling conflict through the skies, I heard, I saw the flashes drive, And yet they are upon my eyes, And yet I am alive; Before I see another […]
The Childless Father by William Wordsworth
“UP, Timothy, up with your staff and away! Not a soul in the village this morning will stay; The hare has just started from Hamilton’s grounds, And Skiddaw is glad with the cry of the hounds.” -Of coats and of jackets grey, scarlet, and green, On the slopes of the pastures all colours were seen; […]
The Birth Of Love by William Wordsworth
When Love was born of heavenly line, What dire intrigues disturbed Cythera’s joy! Till Venus cried, “A mother’s heart is mine; None but myself shall nurse my boy,” But, infant as he was, the child In that divine embrace enchanted lay; And, by the beauty of the vase beguiled, Forgot the beverage-and pined away. “And […]
The Affliction Of Margaret by William Wordsworth
I WHERE art thou, my beloved Son, Where art thou, worse to me than dead? Oh find me, prosperous or undone! Or, if the grave be now thy bed, Why am I ignorant of the same That I may rest; and neither blame Nor sorrow may attend thy name? II Seven years, alas! to have […]
Surprised By Joy by William Wordsworth
Surprised by joy-impatient as the Wind I turned to share the transport-Oh! with whom But Thee, deep buried in the silent tomb, That spot which no vicissitude can find? Love, faithful love, recalled thee to my mind- But how could I forget thee? Through what power, Even for the least division of an hour, Have […]
Strange Fits of Passion Have I Known by William Wordsworth
Strange fits of passion have I known: And I will dare to tell, But in the lover’s ear alone, What once to me befell. When she I loved looked every day Fresh as a rose in June, I to her cottage bent my way, Beneath an evening-moon. Upon the moon I fixed my eye, All […]
Stepping Westward by William Wordsworth
“What, you are stepping westward?””Yea.” ‘T would be a wildish destiny, If we, who thus together roam In a strange land, and far from home, Were in this place the guests of Chance: Yet who would stop, or fear to advance, Though home or shelter he had none, With such a sky to lead him […]
Star-Gazers by William Wordsworth
WHAT crowd is this? what have we here! we must not pass it by; A Telescope upon its frame, and pointed to the sky: Long is it as a barber’s pole, or mast of little boat, Some little pleasure-skiff, that doth on Thames’s waters float. The Showman chooses well his place, ’tis Leicester’s busy Square; […]
Stanzas by William Wordsworth
ONCE I could hail (howe’er serene the sky) The Moon re-entering her monthly round, No faculty yet given me to espy The dusky Shape within her arms imbound, That thin memento of effulgence lost Which some have named her Predecessor’s ghost. . Young, like the Crescent that above me shone, Nought I perceived within it […]
Stanzas Written In My Pocket Copy Of Thomson’s “Castle Of Indolence” by William Wordsworth
WITHIN our happy Castle there dwelt One Whom without blame I may not overlook; For never sun on living creature shone Who more devout enjoyment with us took: Here on his hours he hung as on a book, On his own time here would he float away, As doth a fly upon a summer brook; […]